Breaking Down the ‘Boys: Tyron Smith 2012 Review, Final Grade

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I tracked Smith as allowing only three sacks in 2012, but don’t forget that ‘sacks allowed’ is a low-frequency stat that’s rarely indicative of a player’s real value. Smith actually allowed pressure on 6.0 percent of his pass protection snaps; that’s nearly the same rate as Doug Free, albeit at the more difficult left tackle position. Smith also committed 11 penalties—second-most on the team—suggesting he went through some growing pains on the left side.

In pass protection, Smith took a step back in 2012, but the good news is that he showed improvement. He didn’t allow a sack in the entire second half of the season, and his pressure rate was actually about half of that in the first half of the year. Smith has the athleticism and intelligence to adapt his game to play left tackle—something he hadn’t done on a consistent basis since high school—and we saw that as the season progressed. Perhaps the most telling stat for Smith is that only two of his 11 penalties came after the Cowboys’ initial eight contests, and only three after Week 6.

In the running game, Smith was the Cowboys’ most dominant blocker. I track the blockers who are at the point-of-attack on each running play throughout the season. Smith was at the point on 88 runs, and the ‘Boys gained 393 yards on those plays (4.47 YPC). That’s well above the overall average of only 3.56 YPC. Surprisingly, the Cowboys struggled on the few stretch and toss plays they ran to the boundary on Smith’s side, totaling only 1.71 YPC on 14 carries, although we’d expect the efficiency to increase dramatically with more attempts.

And of course the most important number surrounding Smith is 12.5 million, as in the total value of his four-year rookie contract. That’s pocket change for many of the league’s premiere offensive tackles. Smith isn’t there just yet, but he’s shown that he’s on his way. Actually, I’m so confident of Smith’s improvement from good to elite in 2013 that I’d argue the Cowboys should do whatever they can to extend his contract before his market value explodes.

Final 2012 Grade

This season was an odd one for Smith because he looked like a totally new player over the second half of the year. If I were grading him based solely on the final eight games, he’d probably get a B+ or even an A-. The improvement he showed as he became more comfortable on the left side was remarkable and a great sign of things to come.